1. Field of the Invention.
The present invention relates generally to disposing of waste materials, and, in particular, to disposing of tree, shrubbery and rosebush trimmings and the like.
2. Description of the Related Art.
Landfills have been used to dispose of a multitude of different types of waste. Such waste has originated from many different sources. Due to the expansiveness of the population and the general wastefulness of our society, the quantity of that waste has placed tremendous burdens on the available landfills, and the methods of picking up that waste and delivering it to those landfills has pushed present capabilities to process that waste almost to beyond capacity.
In response to these burdensome demands required by our society, many cities now require yard waste such as grass cuttings and tree, shrubbery and rosebush trimmings to be bundled separately from other garbage. For example, many cities have mandated that such trimmings must be properly bundled or the waste collectors will not remove the trimmings from the property but will be left curbside until they are property bundled. In addition, many of those municipalities not only specify that the trimmings be bundled, but that the bundles not exceed a certain length, a certain weight, or both. The mandated sizes of the bundles generally range between 3'-6', with most cities specifying a maximum length of 4'. The mandated weights of the bundles generally range between 25-80 pounds, with many of the cities specifying a maximum weight of 50 pounds.
One problem commonly incurred during the handling and disposing of branches and trimmings is the uncooperative nature thereof. As one tries to bundle such items, the stiffness and bulkiness resists reasonable efforts to manually compress the limbs into a compact bundle which is easier to handle because it is not so bulky. Various rudimentary techniques have been attempted, largely without success, but accepted out of frustration. Many times that frustration was further aggravated due to slippage of the cord binding the bundle, thereby losing whatever advantage had been initially gained.
As a result, the limbs generally were not compressed into conveniently sized bundles and more trips were required to carry the bundles to curbside for further disposition. In addition, the bundles sometimes contain trimmings from rosebushes, locust trees, and other thorny flora which is capable of inflicting injury, sometimes severe, not only to the flesh of those carrying the bundles but also to ones clothes.
What is needed is a device and a method whereby trimmings from trees, shrubbery, rosebushes, and the like can be quickly, easily, conveniently and reliably compressed into compact bundles and manually carried to curbside or other desired location with minimal effort and risk to flesh or clothing.